Purdue finally puts Hawkeyes away in OT

January 28, 2013

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - If nothing else, the Purdue Boilermakers have a little more confidence. Even if Sunday's win wasn't pretty.

The Boilermakers led most of the way against Iowa before trailing late and then forcing overtime.

Terone Johnson had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Ronnie Johnson scored 15 to lead Purdue to a 65-62 victory over Iowa.

"I think a lot of guys have grown up from putting their heads down," Terone Johnson said. "We went on a run in the first half and second half where we could have put them away, but they kept coming back and ended up taking a lead at the end."

Donnie Hale had 12 points and five rebounds and D.J. Byrd had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Boilermakers (11-9, 4-3 Big Ten), who have won four of their last five.

Mike Gesell had 18 points to lead the Hawkeyes. Roy Devyn Marble, Aaron White and Melsahn Basabe each scored 12 points for Iowa (13-7, 2-5). Basabe also had eight rebounds.

Purdue never trailed in overtime. Ronnie Johnson scored the go-ahead basket with 1:27 left in overtime to make it 61-59. The Hawkeyes missed two free throws and two field goals and Byrd extended the lead to 63-59 with two free throws with 30 seconds left.

Terone Johnson scored with 33 seconds left in regulation to tie it at 54 and force overtime.

The Hawkeyes took their first lead of the game when White was fouled on a dunk. He completed the three-point play with 2:57 left to put the Hawkeyes up 51-50. The Boilermakers missed a shot and White scored again to make it 53-50.

Hale scored on a put-back to get Purdue within one, and Marble's free throw with 47 seconds left put Iowa up 54-52.

"The first half was kind of ugly, nobody really hit shots, both of us shot low percentages, so we just kind of had to keep with the game," Byrd said. Purdue led 19-16 at halftime.

"When they took that lead in the second half, I just kept saying, 'It's not over, there's still time left, whether we have to do this in overtime or whatever.'"

The Boilermakers led most of the game and jumped to a 30-21 lead early in the second half. Byrd hit a 3-pointer and two free throws and A.J. Hammons, Terone Johnson and Ronnie Johnson each scored for Purdue.

The Boilermakers' biggest lead, 11 points, came with 8 minutes to play after Ronnie Johnson made a pair of free throws.

It didn't last long. The Hawkeyes went on an 8-0 run to get back within 45-42. Basabe dunked and Gesell scored twice in the run.

"You have that 11-point lead and they come back and take the lead," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "And then we had some free throws in there and some missed opportunities and just some defensive breakdowns, those three things together led to their surge and coming back."

Iowa had just four field goals in the first half, shooting 15 percent. But the Hawkeyes only trailed by three at the break because Purdue wasn't much better, making just 29 percent from the floor.

It wasn't a product to be proud of, especially for the Hawkeyes, and Iowa coach Fran McCaffery made that clear.

McCaffery was short with his answers after the game.

"I don't know that when you lose a game that you're pleased with anything, to be frank," McCaffery said. "The first half was as strange a half as I've been involved with in terms of our inability to get anything going, whether it be in transition or set plays, motion, on the perimeter, in the post, we just couldn't get anything going."

The Boilermakers jumped to a 10-2 lead, including two baskets by Hammons.

Iowa's only points in the early going came on two free throws by Anthony Clemmons.

Terone Johnson scored with 2:13 left in the first half for a 19-11 Boilermakers lead. Marble was fouled on a layup and made the free throw, and later made two more free throws to trim Purdue's lead to 19-16.

"I felt like to be down three, we couldn't be in a better position and we didn't play particularly well at the start of the second half either," McCaffery said. "We just kept hanging around, we kept hanging in and I think, from that standpoint that was good."